Solar System Updates from the Spilkers at Oct Meeting

Linda and Tom Spilker explored the Solar System together during their work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. See them at our Oct meeting where they will be talking about their work along with recent updates.

Dr. Linda Spilker, Cassini Project Scientist, will present updates of the highlights of Cassini’s 13-year mission of discovery at Saturn. Since the end of Cassini’s mission scientists have been teasing out new information about Saturn, the rings and moons from the huge stock of data collected during the mission. Some of the most surprising results were discovered during the final orbits of the mission, diving through the gap between the rings and Saturn for the very first time.

Speaker #2: Architecting Space Missions by Dr. Tom Spilker

Since establishing my consulting business I have worked with multiple NASA centers, such as JPL, Goddard Research Center, Glenn Research Center, and Langley Research Center, multiple universities, and private corporations and companies, on a variety of space flight mission concepts and instrument concepts. Straying somewhat (but not entirely!) from the science missions, recently I have architected a large, rotating space station for the Gateway Foundation and its operating arm, Orbital Assembly Corp. Among other important functions, that space station should make it much easier to implement planetary science missions, trips to the moon, and large telescopes in space.